Signal CEO Moxie Marlinspike steps down, WhatsApp co-founder to take over as interim CEO

Moxie Marlinspike, the creator and CEO of messaging service Signal, will step down. In a blog post on Monday, WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton will take over as temporary CEO, Marlinspike said. He added that it's a new year, and he has decided it's a good time to step down as CEO of Signal. Marlinspike, who will continue to serve on Signal's board, stated that he is looking for a permanent CEO role.

He said in a blog post that it's difficult to overstate how important Signal is to him after a decade or more. He stated that he is now extremely comfortable replacing himself as CEO based on the team he has assembled, and that he believes it is a vital step for Signal's future. "I've been chatting with candidates for a few months, butvital to open up the search with this announcement to help identify the greatest person for the next decade of Signal," he said in a blog post.

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Acton launched WhatsApp, Signal's competing messaging service, in 2009. In 2014, Meta Platforms, then Facebook, purchased the firm. According to Signal's website, Acton later departed WhatsApp in 2017 due to disagreements over consumer data usage and targeted advertising. In February 2018, he and Marlinspike co-founded the non-profit Signal Foundation, which now controls the app, with an initial $50 million investment (roughly Rs 369 crore).

Marlinspike also complimented the Signal team and users for the app's early success in his blog post. Signal, an end-to-end encrypted communications network, has the backing of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey as well as a whistleblower and privacy advocate Edward Snowden.

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• Brian Acton
• Facebook
• Moxie Marlinspike
• Signal
• WhatsApp